Amblyopsis

Amblyopsis
Ozark cavefish A. rosae
Northern cavefish A. spelaea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Percopsiformes
Family: Amblyopsidae
Genus: Amblyopsis
DeKay, 1842
Type species
Amblyopsis spelaeus
DeKay, 1842

Amblyopsis is a genus of small (up to 11 cm or 4.3 in long) fish in the family Amblyopsidae that are endemic to the central and eastern United States.[1] Like other cavefish, they lack pigmentation and are blind.[2] The most recently described species was in 2014.[3] Uniquely among fish, Amblyopsis brood their eggs in the gill chambers (somewhat like mouthbrooders).[4] It was formerly incorrectly speculated that the same brooding behavior existed in other genera in the family and in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus).[4][5] During the Pleistocene period, the modern Ohio river was a barrier of dispersal and created a great genetic variation, leading to two phylogenetically distinct lineages from the species Amblyopsis.[6]

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Amblyopsis". FishBase. May 2017 version.
  2. ^ Darwin, Charles (1979). The Origin of Species (1st ed.). New York: Avenel Books. p. 179. ISBN 0-517-30978-5.
  3. ^ Chakrabarty, P.; Prejean, J.A.; Niemiller, M.L. (2014). "The Hoosier cavefish, a new and endangered species (Amblyopsidae, Amblyopsis) from the caves of southern Indiana". ZooKeys (412): 41–57. doi:10.3897/zookeys.412.7245. PMC 4042695. PMID 24899861.
  4. ^ a b Armbruster, J.W.; M.L. Niemiller & P.B. Hart (2016). "Morphological Evolution of the Cave-, Spring-, and Swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes)". Copeia. 104 (3): 763–777. doi:10.1643/ci-15-339. S2CID 53608365.
  5. ^ Fletcher, D.E.; Dakin, E.E.; Porter, B.A.; Avise, J.C. (2004). "Spawning behavior and genetic parentage in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus), a fish with an enigmatic reproductive morphology". Copeia. 2004 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1643/ce-03-160r. S2CID 37827490.
  6. ^ Niemiller, M.L.; McCandless, J.R.; Reynolds, R.G. (2013). "Effects of Climatic and Geological Processes During the Pleistocene on the Evolutionary History of the Northern Cavefish,Amblyopsis Spelaea(Teleostei: Amblyopsidae)". Evolution. 67 (4): 1011–1025. doi:10.1111/evo.12017. PMID 23550752. S2CID 205122612.